Architects in Mission(AIM) recently announced the winners for their 2013 competition with the topic, Post Earthquake Reconstruction, Ya’an Sichuan - Rebuild Panda’s Hometown from the Earthquake. The Ya'an Earthquake occurred at 08:02 Beijing Time on the 20th April 2013. The epicenter was located in Lushan County, Ya'an, Sichuan, about 116km (or 72 miles) from Chengdu (along the Longmenshan Fault) in the same province that was hit heavily by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. For this year's competition, AIM asked participants to pay particular attention to the master planning of the Snow Mountain Village, whilst developing new business models to encourage economic growth for local villagers. See the four winning entries after the break.

Located on a cliff at an altitude of 4100 meters high near Yading Village in China, the proposal for the Yading Cliff Building by ELEV (Elevation Workshop) was inspired by the terrain of the cliff itself. The local mountain has had landslides in the past. As nature formed the mountains in the first place, it also created the imperfections. The architects wanted to use our man-made construction to fill the remaining void. More images and architects’ description after the break.

’1K house’ was a design studio in the Department of Architecture, MIT in 2009 co-taught by Professor Yung Ho Chang, Chairman of Department of Architecture, MIT, Professor Tony Ciochetti, Chairman of Center for Real Estate, MIT, and Professor Dennis Shelden, Department of Architecture, MIT. It is a project designed for the rural poor in the earthquake area, Sichuan, China who lost their home during the seismic disaster in 2008. The Pinwheel house is the selected project to be built in China and it became the first built project, by architect, Ying chee Chui, an MArch’11 student at MIT, in summer 2010. As MIT’s first low cost housing prototype, this project set the stage for the importance of low-cost developments for locations around the globe that have had natural disasters that are beyond society’s control. By reaching out, architects everywhere can take advantage of opportunities such as theses to help a society recover and rebuild. More information on the project after the break.

A research team led by Prof. Zhu Jingxiang of the School of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has developed an advanced architectural system for the construction of the New Bud Study Hall in Sichuan, China, this summer. See more images and architect’s description after the break.

The Los Angeles based team of Studio SHIFT and SWA Group has been selected to create a master plan for the Sichuan Province, a developing area in China. The plan consists of SHIFT’s Miyi Tower that aims to promote the region’s heritage, and SWA Group’s design for a sustainable promenade.